Trip Promotion 101

To help you get started, Educational Travel Adventures will send three important materials tailored to your trip:

• A custom flyer to share with students and families

• A PowerPoint presentation to use at your parent meeting

• The ETA Trip Portal for you and your students. The portal is where we collect payments, traveler information, and manage the paperwork for the trip.

Your ETA Travel Specialist will train you on all of the items listed above for ease of use.

Your parent meeting is one of the most effective ways to boost sign-ups.

Timing: Choose your date, time and location. Plan your meeting about 10 to 12 months before travel. Early planning gives families more time to budget and allows for smaller monthly payments. Offering more time could be the difference in a student being able to afford the trip.

Next Steps

• Decide whether your meeting will be in person, virtual or both.*Pro tip: including Zoom allows you to record the meeting and share after, which is helpful for parents who can’t make your date/time.
• Send initial email/text invitations to parents with: Date, time and location. Attach the trip flyer. If your meeting has a virtual component, consider adding the Zoom link
• Set and send a reminder schedule to parents (consider using email and text messages):
  • First touch:  14 days before the meeting
  • Second touch: 10 days before the meeting
  • Third touch: 7 days before
  • Final reminder: 1 day before

Who to invite: We always encourage our teachers to think about trying to get the word out to as many families as possible, keep in mind today’s families are busy, you have to cast a wide net. Work with your partner teachers to promote to their classes as well or see if administration would consider opening up the trip to the whole school. For every 50 families you invite, typically 40% will come to the meeting to learn about the trip, and on average half of those families enroll.

Now it’s time to build excitement and get students interested in joining your trip. Start by creating a small team of supporters and making it easy for families to take the next step.

Build Your Team

• Partner with other teachers who can help promote the trip to their students.
• Connect with PTO members, room parents, counselors, or other school staff who can help spread the word.
• Recruit a few enthusiastic “anchor students” who can get their friends excited about joining.
• Consider whether your administration would allow you to open the trip to additional classes or grade levels.

Make It Easy to Sign Up

• Keep your Trip Portal registration link easy to find and ready to share.
• Remind interested students and families how and where to register.
• Create a sign-up list, if appropriate, so students can see who else is joining.
• Keep your enrollment goals and important registration deadlines in mind as you promote.

Plan for Fundraising

• Decide early how fundraising will fit into your promotion and enrollment plan.
• Use our Student Trip Fundraising Guide to choose ideas and create a plan for your group.
• Encourage families to use the ETA Fundraising Link, where friends and family can contribute directly to a traveler’s account.

Your enthusiasm is key! This meeting sets the tone for the entire trip.

Key Talking Points

• Use the Trip Powerpoint and itinerary as your guide, pull it up on your screen to showcase attractions and learning opportunities.
• Explain how registration and monthly payments work. Let them know they can set up monthly autopay.
• Introduce the Trip Portal and show parents how to use it.
• Review optional travel insurance (CFAR – Cancel For Any Reason). Parents have 14 days post-registration to purchase.
• Emphasize that monthly payments are required, even with fundraisers.
• Highlight your group’s fundraising plan so everyone can see their path to joining the trip.
• Ensure to share the payment due date

Tips for Hosting

• Offer light refreshments, maybe something related to the destination.
• Invite your ETA Travel Specialist to join on Zoom to support Q&A
• Collect parent names, emails, and phone numbers for follow-up at the meeting. You can use a sign-up sheet or a Google Form and pass around a tablet or Chromebook. You can also share the form link through the chat feature in the Zoom meeting.
• Make it easy for families to register by walking them through the Trip Portal in real time during the meeting itself.
• Have a laptop or tablet available so parents can sign up on the spot.

After the Meeting

Follow up promptly to keep excitement going. Send a recap email including:

• The Trip Portal online registration link
• Notes or key points from the meeting
• A recording link if it was held on Zoom
• The Trip PowerPoint presentation
• Fundraising resources and reminders about monthly payments
• *Pro Tip: Resend this recap to those who haven’t enrolled over time

After your meeting, continue promoting and communicating. Consistency is key to reaching your traveler goals. Pay attention to the deposit deadline and work toward that goal.

• Check your Trip Portal regularly to track registrations.
• ETA can send you weekly manifest status emails to keep recruitment top of mind.
  
• Follow up with families who expressed interest but haven’t signed up.
• Send friendly reminder emails each week, especially leading up to the first payment due date.
• Increase frequency in the final weeks to help families stay on track.

Let’s say it’s deadline day but you haven’t quite hit your number, talk to your ETA Travel Specialist for ideas. You might consider including another grade level or inviting parents to join the trip if your school allows it.

What if your trip is full? Talk to your ETA Travel Specialist  about how to manage waitlist or add additional travelers. 

If this is your first year leading a trip, this will be the hardest. Once you’ve established a travel program, future trips will grow more easily. You will be able to utilize your previous students to promote their experiences and share photos from the trips to show the fun and impact.